JellO
by SSAEmilyHotchner
Summary: Oneshot. When Reid falls ill due to the anthrax spores, Morgan reflects on their relationship. Set in 4x25, "Amplification." Morgan/Reid FRIENDSHIP.


**Author's Note: I think it goes without saying that I watched "Amplification" last night. After all, it _is_ one of my favorite season four episodes. What really struck me about it was how much Morgan seemed to care about Reid's welfare. So, I decided to write this little piece about the aspects of their friendship. Hope you love it! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>Morgan shut his cell phone. "Prentiss said the lab is clean," he announced, turning to face his colleague. "So…Reid? Reid?" He spun around abruptly, a chill running down his spine. Where had he gone?<p>

Quickly striding into the house, he called out. "Reid? Reid!"

"No, no, Morgan! Get back!" Morgan heard a glass door slam as he rounded the corner.

"Reid, what are you doing?" Morgan asked in shock, watching as the younger agent locked himself into the glass enclosure.

"Get back!" Reid repeated, his eyes wild.

"Why? What –" But that was when he saw it, lying on the floor just feet away from Reid.

A broken test tube containing anthrax.

"Get out of the house," Reid ordered. "Get out of here!"

"No. No way in hell," Morgan answered. "I'm not leaving until you get out of here."

"I _can't_ get out of here. Just because I've been exposed doesn't mean I have to stop working the case. My best chance is to stay here and see if there's a cure," Reid said logically. "I'm sorry," he finished quietly, the palms of his now clammy hands pressed against the glass wall.

Deep down inside, Morgan knew Reid was right. But he wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Well, you can't just stay in there and keep breathing in a WMD!" Morgan countered. "I'm calling Hotch."

Reid nodded. "And while you're at it, you can tell him that Nichols is, ummm…dead." He motioned over to the corner of the home lab. "Blunt force trauma to the head."

Morgan grimaced. "Well, that's that." Without another word, he dialed Hotch's number. "Hotch? It's me, Morgan. Nichols is dead, and well…you're going to need to bring Dr. Kimura over. We've got a bit of a problem."

~.~.~

"Kid, you need to come out of there and get taken to a hospital," Morgan urged.

Reid shook his head adamantly. "I need to figure out who killed Dr. Nichols," he argued. "Speaking of which, he seems to have been dead for three or four days."

"Meaning he couldn't have staged the attacks at the bookstore or the park," Hotch mused.

Morgan frowned. "Then…who did? No one else seems to have enough motive."

"Well, there's this," Reid pointed out, fishing through a stack of detailed notes and files. "There's two sets of handwriting."

Morgan turned to Hotch. "Could he have had a partner? We didn't figure it into the profile, but…" His voice trailed away.

Hotch nodded vaguely. "It's possible." His train of thought was lost, however, as Reid began to cough.

Dr. Kimura looked up at him, concern etched in her features. "Dr. Reid, are you okay?"

Morgan eyed the doctor carefully. _Does he look okay?_ He felt like yelling.

Reid nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I took cipro this morning," he said, trying to feign nonchalance. But it was obvious that he wasn't too sure anymore, especially with the sudden appearance of the symptoms.

"Even though cipro is a preventative pill, there's no guarantee it will work against a strain this aggressive," she said grimly, oblivious to Morgan's livid stare. Her gaze travelled to his arm. "Did…did you cut yourself, Dr. Reid? On your hand?"

He glanced downwards reluctantly, his heart beating quickly in his chest. "I did," he muttered.

Morgan felt his heart wrench as he looked at his friend, trapped in the room with the air conditioning on full blast. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't going to be affected. He was too_ young._

Reid looked up at him, his eyes red and beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

But damn, things sure didn't look good.

~.~.~

"Nichols used to be a professor," Reid said to Morgan, trying to ignore the fact that the coughing was getting worse. "He may have opened his lab for educational purposes."

"How do you know?" Morgan asked, immediately feeling like an idiot. How did Reid know any of the things he knew? _That_ was the real question.

"This," Reid said in explanation, pressing a thesis paper against the glass for his partner to see. It had notes in the margins, written in Nichols' almost illegible scrawl.

"He had been helping a student with his thesis," Morgan said. "It all makes sense now." And at that, he gave Garcia a call. "Hey, Baby Girl. I need you to do me a favor and work me up some magic: look up doctoral students in the Annapolis area, anyone studying microbiology or biochemistry, and see if any of them have a connection to either the Book Front or Quiet Hills Park."

"No match," Garcia said quietly, reluctantly.

"The thesis had more to do with city layouts and urban planning," Reid interjected.

"Look up anyone in the field of social sciences, Garcia," Morgan immediately said, understanding Reid's train of thought.

_Bingo. _"One hit: a Chad Brown used to work at the Book Front. He's got a record, too. Arrested twice at protest rallies," she replied instantly.

"We've got him." Morgan was about to hang up when Garcia interrupted.

"How's Reid doing?" she asked quietly, almost reluctant to know the answer.

Morgan glanced at the young profiler. "Can I talk to her?" Reid mouthed.

"He wants to talk to you."

"I'll call his cell."

Seconds later, Reid's phone rang. "Hey," he answered, his voice somewhat raspy.

"Hey, Reid," Garcia said gently.

"Wow, uh…no witty Garcia greeting for me?" Reid teased lightly, despite his worsening condition.

"I can't be witty when you are where you are," she confessed, worry lines creasing her forehead.

He sighed, knowing it was true. "Listen, I…I know I can't call my mom without alerting everyone at her hospital. But…" He cleared his throat. "Do you think you could record a message for her? In case anything happens to me."

"Kid, _nothing's_ going to happen to you," Morgan and Garcia said in unison.

He nodded absently. "Will you?"

"Of course."

Morgan couldn't suppress the tears that came to his eyes as he listened to Reid leave a heartfelt message full of love. _He doesn't deserve this_, he thought._ No one does. Reid is too young, too innocent. He hasn't experienced life yet. _Morgan found himself glancing up to the heavens and the big man upstairs as he added in his thoughts, _Please don't let anything happen to him._

"I need you to know that I spend every day of my life proud to be your son," Reid finished emotionally, his voice thick with unshed tears. "I love you, Mom." He paused before saying, "That's it, Garcia."

Garcia furiously wiped her tears away. "Get better soon, Reid."

"I'll try my best."

~.~.~

"You did good, kid," Morgan complimented, referring to finding Chad Brown. "Now get the hell out of there."

"I can't, Morgan. I haven't found the cure," Reid said in exasperation. He was taking a turn for the worse.

Just then, Dr. Kimura entered the lab wearing a protective suit. "You said the cure would be somewhere we didn't expect," she began. "What about Dr. Nichols' inhaler?"

"It's worth a shot." Reid searched for the coveted object, his eyes finally landing on it in the corner of the room. Slowly, he walked towards it, as if in a trance.

"You found it," Kimura said, coming up behind him.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. _Way to state the obvious._

"Mm-hmm."

Kimura looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

Turning towards Morgan, sitting anxiously outside the glass with his head in his hands, Reid fingered the inhaler before saying, "Here goes nothing," and taking a puff of the air supplement.

Morgan met his eyes. "Good. Now, for the hundredth time, let's get you out of there." Kimura had no objection.

"Ummm…Morgan, you might want to leave," Reid said awkwardly. "Go and help Hotch. He needs you more than I do right now."

"No way in hell. I'm going to see you off to the hospital," the man protested. There was no way he was going to leave the side of his friend when he needed him most.

Well…_almost_ no way. "Morgan, I'm about to get naked so they can scrub me down. Is that something you really want to see?" Reid asked almost hypothetically.

Morgan let the corners of his lips quirk slightly at the statement. "Alright, kid. I'll see you there." He turned to Dr. Kimura. "Take good care of him."

~.~.~

Morgan sat in one of the worn hospital chairs, idly looking through a magazine. But that's not where his attention was set. He looked up at Reid, lying on the hospital bed in front of him.

The kid was strong. Reid and Kimura had been right; the cure had been in the inhaler. As a result, he was expected to go through full recovery.

For that, Morgan was grateful. Because, although he teased Reid relentlessly all day, any day, Morgan though of Reid as a younger brother.

And, when it came to family, he had always been over-protective.

"You're eating jell-O?"

Morgan looked up at him. He was awake. Smiling, he greeted, "Look who's alive!" Relief coursed through his body.

"Is there any more jell-O?" Reid croaked, maneuvering into a sitting position.

Morgan chuckled. "I'm sure there is." Sobering, he said quietly, "I'm glad you're okay."

Reid nodded, locking gazes with his friend. "Thanks, man."

"Anytime." He broke into a wide grin. "Now, let's get you that jell-O."

**THE END.**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated; in fact, you'll receive free Jell-O in the flavor of your choice in the mail if you leave me some feedback... :)<strong>


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